There are various maximum power point tracking (MPPT) techniques to improve efficiency of solar PV systems and increase production of energy. Choice of MPPT technique depends on many factors such as tracking speed, ability to track maximum power point under abnormal conditions. MPPT techniques can be classified as conventional and soft computing (advanced) techniques. Due to drawbacks of both techniques, recent research trend to hybrid techniques that aim to solve these drawbacks. This paper reviews the current various techniques of MPPT for PV systems illustrating their merits and drawbacks.

Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT); Solar PV systems; Partial-Shading; Artificial Neural Network; Genetic Algorithm; Practical Swarm Optimization; Hybrid MPPT techniques